> Yes WE CAN take your guns and WE WILL do so.Pages: 1

Yes WE CAN take your guns and WE WILL do so.

The family of a Volusia County veteran charged with recklessly firing a rifle at imagined intruders will take control of his nearly two dozen weapons, which are now being held in evidence at the Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Mike Chitwood said that the family of Herbert Tipton is in negotiations to take custody of the arsenal and that the weapons will not be returned to Tipton. They are also seeking to have Tipton, 71, placed in a veterans court program in an effort to get him mental health services.

Chitwood said that Tipton — who was charged with with assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, false imprisonment and discharging a firearm in public — is not receiving proper treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

“The family has been really good,” Chitwood said. “They want to do an intervention, get him into veterans court, and we want the VA to give him the help he needs.”

The charges against Tipton stem from an incident in October in which he refused to let his adult daughter leave the house because he said there were intruders outside, one of whom he had shot, according to a charging affidavit. When deputies arrived at the home on Brevity Lane near DeLand, they heard several shots as Tipton’s daughter, Dawn Champion, spoke with dispatchers.

Re: Yes WE CAN take your guns and WE WILL do so.

Chitwood said that deputies had been called to Tipton’s home in the past regarding firearms and that he had been previously sent for mental evaluations under the Baker Act. The state’s involuntary commitment law, however, does not allow law enforcement officers to take any weapons unless a crime was committed or a court order issued.

Chitwood said he would like to see that changed, allowing the guns to be confiscated for a period of time, say 20 days, until there can be a hearing in a mental health court.

“Look at these mass shootings,” he said. “There is always a mental health issue.”